Sufferings and miseries have their own place in life. Every one has his share of it. Even sages of eminence had their own. Had there been no sufferings in the world, man's thought could never have gone up to the reverse side of it, i.e., the bliss. Thus man's affliction offers him inducement for finding out means of emancipation. In other words they serve as stimulants. We know that coal can be transformed into diamond. That means that a change in the set-up gives things a new appearance. A thing becomes useful and pleasing when its set-up is right, while it becomes painful and ugly if it is wrong. The same is the case with afflictions. Our discriminative faculty is so much over-shadowed by the hankerings of the mind that we have become quite blind to the real values of things concerned with in life. As a matter of fact every thing in life is for our ultimate good; only we have to learn their proper utilisation so as to turn them to our advantage.
If we somehow cease supplying them [sufferings and miseries] with power, they will begin to wither away like unwatered plants. This can become possible only when we divert our thought, which is associated with body-consciousness, towards the soul. The things which, through our wrong-doings, have assumed the form of miseries and afflictions will begin to wither away, or shall be over-influenced by the effect of superior consciousness. They shall in course of time be entirely cleared and their outbursts shall also cease. Man will then be in a state of soul-consciousness which was originally enlivened by the effect of Divine will.
Now let us see how the things known as miseries, which are opposed to the true character of Reality, grew strong and powerful. These being under our control get power from us, while the other being under God's control gets power from Him. The more we are attentive towards them (miseries), the stronger they grow by the effect of our thought. In course of time they become strong enough to over-shadow all our feelings and emotions. The only solution would be to turn towards God which is the greatest power. The Divine power will then begin to flow in, making afflictions totally ineffective. By and by the man begins to acquire the state, so highly spoken of in the Gita, at which he ceases to feel himself as the doer. Further advancement in that state means the stopping of the formation of samskaras which leads him to the state of jivan moksha. A simple thing can be achieved by simple means only. In fact afflictions, which are commonly taken as the reverse side of bliss, form the only thing that revives in our heart a consciousness of the Real, and helps us to march along the path of peace and progress. Every one has his own afflictions. I too had mine, about which I had once written to my Master. His reply quoted below is worth writing in gold:
"It is good to be put to worries. The home is the training centre for submission and endurance. To put up patiently with the day-to-day events of life is the highest form of penance and sacrifice. So, instead of anger and resentment, one must cultivate in himself a meek temperament. Meekness refers to that feeling of mind in which, on being rebuked by others, one feels his own self to be at fault, and for which he has to yield to what is meted out to him. For others, aloofness, solitude and dissociation might be the means for cultivating contentment, endurance and freedom from the entanglements of life, whereas for us, to put up with the taunts and rebukes of the family, friends and society, is the greatest form of penance and sacrifice."
Constant brooding over our own afflictions increases our worries. Our attachment to them develops and we become rigidly entangled in their intricacies…If we keep ourselves concerned with the clearing off of the limitations set up by the expansion and contraction of the forces, our purpose may be rightly served. It is therefore necessary for us to start from the level where Nature's forces begin to promote consciousness in man. The reason why people are not able to undertake it is that they do not attach any importance to it, because they have no definite aim or purpose in view. An archer can never hit at the mark unless he fixes his keen attention on the object to be hit.
I have my own experiences of sufferings and miseries, and after pondering over them a good deal I have now come to the conclusion that suffering and disease are the boons of Nature in disguise which helps deliverance from the effects of samskaras. When one is cleared of their remnants, spiritual progress goes on unabated, provided one's mind is inwardly inclined towards it. None is required to give up the normal activities of life connected with his worldly living, but needs only to be busy along-side with it for the attainment of That which is finally to be attained. I wonder why people do not feel interested in this matter which is of such vital importance. Some I find busy with prayer (prarthana) for the development of bhakti in them and wish to come into the world again and again for the purpose. I appreciate their idea of devotion, but the latter portion (i.e., coming again and again) is not understandable to me at all. It seems to be devoid of any sense, purpose or object. What one should actually do is to surrender oneself to God. The thing may seem to be difficult in the beginning but it is really the easiest…
As a matter of fact a man can keep himself busy with divine thoughts every moment without offering any hindrance to his worldly activities. If one practises it so as to form his habit it becomes so easy and natural with him that he would not like to part with it even for a moment. I give you all a very helpful hint. Before taking up a certain work, think of Him for a while in the sense that He himself is doing it. It is the simplest method and I should like you all to follow it in right earnest. An intense craving is therefore essential under all circumstances and for that meditation is an indispensable factor. If one gets firmly settled on it his problem may finally be solved. The easiest way to increase the intensity of craving is to take it up even in an artificial way if it is not actually present in the mind. In course of time, by constant practise, the artificial feeling will become true and genuine.
A saint or a Mahatma is not in any way different from an ordinary worldly man, except that his mind and senses are in a well-disciplined state and wholly under his control. He remains free from the effect of the different hues and colours of the world and remains ever merged in his own, the one colour-less-ness. He attains a state of contentment and settledness which breathe in an atmosphere of peace and calmness.
The effective solution of the problem is to give them up to the charge of a higher soul and to dissociate yourself from them altogether. Cares, anxieties and worries will then subside and nothing but duty will remain to view. That conveys the idea of surrender which is the sum total of the entire sadhana.
Tastelessness has its own peculiar taste which too one must have a taste of. Everyone is involved to some extent at least in worries. Happy are those who pay no heed to them but try to remain satisfied and contented under all circumstances. The only way for that is to keep one's self concerned solely with the great Power with a feeling of love and attachment. The superfluities may be treated as the barking of dogs. Every thing in him will then begin to get regulated, assuming a state of moderation and balance. That is the exact sense implied in the term `the transformation of man'.
